IN MY PREVIOUS POST last Spring (I took a long summer break to work on some other projects), I noted that the always simmering Middle East was rapidly moving to full boil, with Iran and its surrogate Shiite Muslim militia forces in Syria, Lebanon, Iraq and Yemen, along with Tehran’s Sunni Palestinian allies in the Gaza Strip, threatening to attack American forces in the region and their Israeli and Saudi Arabian allies. Some six months later, the malevolent clerical regime’s bombastic threats continue to mushroom. Although no full scale war has yet broken out in the explosive region, increasingly dangerous skirmishes continue to escalate in the Persian Gulf, the Arabian peninsula, and in the three Arab countries located north and east of Israel, while a stream of rocket and terror attacks against the world’s only Jewish state have multiplied from the Hamas-ruled Gaza coastal enclave and in Judea and Samaria. Click below for more details.

WHAT COULD POSSIBLY turn into a new world war has begun in the explosive Middle East, with Palestinian and Israeli forces exchanging heavy fire and Hezbollah seemingly getting ready to open up a second warfront in the north. Syria, Iraq, Saudi Arabia, the US, France, Russia and others might become fully engaged as well. President Trump strongly hinted at American involvement during his White House visit today with Israeli PM Netanyahu, there to see history being made as the US formally recognized Israeli sovereignty over the Golan Heights. . . . . . AS I'VE STATED before, I suspect this conflict will involve nuclear weapons for the first time since the last World War ended in 1945. At the very least, Israel may end up wiping out Damascus with such a weapon, as alluded to in Isaiah 17 and Jeremiah 49. . . . . .I AM HEARING from some friends that they expect Ezekiel 39 and 39, and/or the war described in Psalm 83 to be fulfilled in the growing conflict, and the rapture of the church to precede that...possibly any day now. I think that Isaiah 17 will probably be fulfilled in the coming weeks or months, followed (but probably not immediately) by Psalm 83, and only later on---after the Man of Sin reigns for 42 months--will Ezekiel’s prophecy unfold. As I’ve noted, the oracle makes clear that ALL remaining Jews will move to Israel from all over the world at the end of that invasion, and ALL will turn to the Lord, which seems incongruent with the Antichrist’s worldwide reign in between. Click the blue tab for more thoughts on the growing conflict and how it might end.

I’M KEEPING MY EYES on several significant signals of seemingly imminent war in the turbulent Middle East. Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu spoke at a naval graduation ceremony in Haifa mid week, revealing that the Israeli navy is preparing to take military action against Iranian naval vessels that are helping the outlaw state get around US economic sanctions. He said the Iranian regime cannot be allowed to ship oil to other nations to weaken the crippling sanctions. Although he didn’t plainly say so, he certainly implied that Israel would play a role in the pending military action, but presumably the United States would lead the charge, possibly joined by France and/or the UK. American forces in nearby Iraq are gearing up to fight pro-Iranian Shiite militiamen in the coming days, say Israeli media outlets reporting today.
. . . . . . . . . . . . . . NETANYAHU'S UNEXPECTED comments came as the advanced American THAAD anti-missile system was deployed from the United States to Israel’s Negev desert. Its radar systems can detect any missile launch in the region within seconds, as can some of Israel’s existing domestic defense systems. The eight THAAD launchers are adding significant muscle to Israel’s missile defense capability at a critical time in regional and world history.
. . . . . . . . .. . .MEANWHILE A SENIOR SYRIAN official has stated for the first time since the early 1970’s that his country is preparing to go to war against Israel if all Jewish residents of the Golan Heights are not quickly evacuated from the strategic plateau. Since that is not going to happen, the devastating conflict foretold in Isaiah 17 appears to be on the horizon, of course probably as part of an Iranian-led war to wipe the Jewish State off the Middle East map. The chilling war threat was issued by Syria’s deputy Foreign Minister in a formal note to the female European general who heads up the UN’s Truce Supervision Force in the region. This came as Syrian dictator Bashar Assad was apparently “escorted” to Tehran to kiss Ayatollah Khomeini's ring, cementing that Syria has joined neighboring Lebanon as a virtual vassal state run by Iran. In the south, Hamas has stepped up its war moves in recent days, with armed gun attacks now being aimed at nearby Israeli soldiers. More rockets were fired at Israeli civilian centers overnight. Full war on that southern front looks imminent as well.
. . . . . . . .POSSIBLY THE MOST sobering news this week came from a report that warned Iran may now be capable of targeting America’s electrical grids with an EMP explosion, possibly in coordination with North Korea. All this as Pakistan and India stare each other down. As the Lord showed me several months ago, 2019 will be a year of war in many, if not most, parts of the world.

I AM CURRENTLY WATCHING the combative Congressional hearings featuring Michael Cohen, President Donald Trump’s former personal attorney who is heading to jail after being convicted of earlier lying to Congress in matters related to Trump. The Oversight Committee’s majority Democratic party members are hammering Trump through Cohen, while the Republicans are mainly defending him. The main issue is the President’s moral character, along with Cohen’s. ..........IS THE AMERICAN PRESIDENT anointed by God as a sort of “savior” for Israel and America---a sort of modern Cyrus--as many maintain? Or is he in fact quite evil, and possibly even the Antichrist, or his precursor, as others are saying? Yesterday, the CBN network that I worked with in Jerusalem in the late 1980’s reported on a YouTube video that has been viewed over a million times. It features an Australian pastor based in Melbourne (where I’ve spoken several times). He noted that Trump was born during a “blood moon” on Friday June 14, 1946. He believes this is one of several signs (including the previous two tetrads as Trump was getting ready to run for office) that the President is specially anointed by God, including last month’s January 20 blood moon eclipse that took place exactly two years into Trump’s current four year term in office. ..........ON THE OTHER HAND, there are several Christian websites that draw the opposite conclusion---that the six blood moons seemingly connected to President Trump are divine warnings that he is the epitome of evil. Some go so far as to picture him as either the Antichrist, or at least AN antichrist, or possibly the forerunner of the same. Is Donald Trump a chronic liar, as most Democrats avere, or one of the greatest American presidents ever, as Trump himself has stated several times? Click the blue tab below for my own reflections on these important and timely questions.

MORE VIOLENCE is expected on Friday in Jerusalem after Palestinian rioters tore down a newly installed metal gate near the stone Eastern Gate of the Temple Mount. On Tuesday, Sheikh Abdul Salhab---who heads the Palestinian “waqf” which governs Muslim sites on the ancient “Holy Hill”---said he intends to renovate the site and open it up to exclusive Muslim prayer, which Israeli officials say is a flagrant violation of the “status quo” on the Mount. Palestinian Authority officials also warned this week of escalating violence in Jerusalem’s Old City and elsewhere in the run-up to the release later this year of President Trump’s “Deal of the Century” peace plan, which the PA has already rejected. . . . .MEANWHILE VIOLENCE has increased substantially in recent days in and around the Gaza Strip. Several IDF soldiers, including a volunteer from Los Angeles, were wounded during hostile attacks near the border fence. On Sunday night, an explosive device was hurled over the fence at a nearby army patrol, seriously injuring one soldier who was rushed to hospital by helicopter. IDF forces shelled two Hamas outposts in the northern part of the coastal zone in response to the assault. More clashes are expected on Friday. . . . .IRANIAN LEADERS kept up their threats against Israel as well this week. Foreign Minister Mohammad Zarif told a German newspaper today that “Israeli adventurism” may lead to full war in the region. He denounced IDF actions in Syria, despite the fact that Israel has only been responding to Iran’s ongoing, massive weapons and troop imports into the country and into next door Lebanon. . . . . SPEAKING OF SYRIA, two longtime friends and Jerusalem media colleagues, CBN Bureau Chief Chris Mitchell and cameraman Jan Karnis (who I first worked with in the early 80’s in South Lebanon) traveled via Iraq into northeastern Syria late last month to report on how area Christians and Kurds are coping with the pending American military withdrawal from the war-torn Arab country. If you missed those reports on the Jerusalem Dateline program (Feb 2), check out the CBN website to view them. Israeli leaders are preparing as best they can for the unwelcome US troop pullout, while hoping that at least a skeleton American crew will remain in the Al Tanf Marine base, strategically located close to where the borders of Iraq, Jordan and Syria converge. . . . . I WAS BLESSED to be living in Jerusalem when the International Christian Embassy was still in its infancy in the early 1980’s. David Parsons, ICEJ spokesman and Vice President and also a longtime friend, publicly toasted me a few years ago as “the senior Christian correspondent in Israel” which I appreciated even if it made me feel a bit old! His book, FLOODGATES, released last year, is a must read! Click the blue tab for a short review of his fine, eye opening, book.

There were two reported Israeli military actions against Iranian and Hezbollah forces in Syria late Monday. The Syrian state-run SANA news agency said “the Israeli enemy” attacked four targets south of Damascus where both Iran and Hezbollah are known to operate, using pilotless drone aircraft. Closer to the Israeli border, IDF tanks reportedly fired shells at an abandoned hospital (now occupied by Hezbollah fighters) and a Syrian army outpost near the Golan Heights. The strategic area was captured by Syrian soldiers late last year from anti-Assad Sunni Muslim forces supported by the US and coalition allies. The use of the term “Israeli enemy” by SANA is yet another sign that a fuller conflict is coming between Syria and Israel, possibly the one foretold in Isaiah 17.
. . . . . . .THE LATEST IDF ACTION came as the Iranian Shiite clerical regime celebrated 40 years in power on Monday. Rallies and parades featured the strongest anti-American and anti-Israel statements and threats issued in several years, including vows to “flatten Tel Aviv and Haifa” in a future full-scale war. Israeli PM Netanyahu quickly countered that he was “not impressed” by Iran’s recent stream of annihilationist threats, adding if Iranian and Hezbollah missiles are fired at Israel’s coastal cities it would be “the last time they celebrate their Islamic Revolution.”
.........THIS FOLLOWED IRAN”S “OFFER” over the weekend to arm Lebanon with its Russian-built anti-aircraft missile systems. Showing how much the Shiite regime values its Hezbollah surrogate force, Iranian Foreign Minister Javed Zarif skipped the huge rally in Tehran and showed up in Beirut, which was also visited by senior Russian officials last week. Clearly seeking to replace the US and France as the main backers of Lebanon’s military forces, Russia’s deputy foreign minister, who met with Netanyahu only last week, stated Monday that “Hezbollah is not a terrorist group” but instead “a force for good” in the region. Right. As the American Eagle turns its face from the area, the Russian bear pounces! Stay tuned for more dramatic news ahead!

For a change, the turbulent Middle East took one step back from all out war between Israel and Iran and their allies this week, although this came after many steps unfolded in recent months in the direction of full-scale conflict, as documented on this website and elsewhere. US satellite photos revealed the demented Shiite Muslim regime that controls Iran failed in its second attempt in two months to launch two “research satellites” into earth’s orbit--with the satellites actually intended to give the regime critical "eyes in the sky" prior to the all out military annihilationist showdown with “the Zionist entity” that various Iranian officials have been vowing will soon take place. Although Tehran did not confirm reports of the latest unsuccessful launch, US sources say the Safir rocket used to launch the satellite failed to deliver it into orbit. The main proof of this was the fact that Iranian officials did not even mention Wednesday’s botched attempt after earlier revealing that a January 15th effort had not been successful.
. . . . . . . .IN BEIRUT, THE LEADER OF IRAN’S surrogate Hezbollah militia, Hassan Nasrallah, issued new televised threats on Wednesday against Israel while pledging to come to Iran’s aid if it is “attacked” by Israel. He added the Iranian regime is planning to help Lebanon get back on its feet after months of internal political chaos that sharply reduced electricity supplies and left garbage strewn in the streets. Meanwhile at least one rocket was fired yesterday at Israel from the Hamas-controlled Gaza Strip, landing in an open field. Some area residents---directed by Code Red war sirens to immediately seek shelter---reported that more than one Palestinian rocket was hurled at Israeli territory.
. . . . . . . MEANWHILE ISRAELI OFFICIALS expressed both support and concern over remarks made by Donald Trump during his annual State of the Union address on Tuesday evening. As usual, I will be reporting on these and other developments on the Prophecy Today Weekend radio and internet program this Saturday. Click the blue tab below for more on the President’s speech and reactions in Israel.

THE ERUPTING MIDDLE EAST (President Trump termed it “troubled” in his CBS interview, an understatement for sure) took several harrowing steps toward all out war over the weekend and earlier today. The radical Shiite clerical regime which violently seized control over Iran forty years ago (after Ayatollah Khomeini returned to Tehran on Feb 1, 1979, setting off months of violent conflict in the once peaceful country), announced it had carried out a “successful test” of a cruise missile capable of striking Israel from western Iran. Security analysts say the missile can carry either a conventional or nuclear warhead, and reach targets over 900 miles away. Tel Aviv is some 850 miles from Iran’s western border with Iraq, while Jerusalem is even closer. Iranian Defense Minister Amir Hatami said the test, carried out on Saturday, “successfully destroyed its target” 750 miles away. Analysts say the low flying, highly maneuverable, cruise missile---similar to US cruise missiles fired at Syrian targets last year---is almost impossible to detect or intercept. . . . . . . .THE JARRING NEWS CAME soon after Israeli media outlets reported that three Iranian missiles, aimed at the sprawling US Ain Al Assad military base in Iraq’s western Anbar province (mentioned by President Trump in his CBS interview), had been discovered and disarmed on Saturday by Iraqi security forces. Subsequently, Syrian officials said American warplanes attacked “multiple Iranian targets” and Syrian artillery positions early Monday morning near Syria’s eastern border with Iraq---apparently in response to the thwarted attack. Several hours later, Iraqi government officials said the strategic US base which they host “must not be used to attack any of our neighbors,” meaning Iran or Syria. Analysts say the rogue Iranian regime is working overtime to get Baghdad to close down the important base, opening the way for Iranian and Iraqi Shiite militia forces to pour into Syria. . . . . . . MEANWHILE IRAN’S THREATS TO DESTROY ISRAEL continued on Monday. The latest annihilationist blast came from the deputy “Revolutionary Guards” commander, Hossein Salami, who claimed “Israel would be terminated within three days” if full war breaks out in the region. He added that Tehran had “developed its strategic capacity” in order to “ensure the death of the illegitimate Zionist regime.” On Sunday, Israel’s largest newspaper, Yediot Aharonot, quoted a “classified report” in which the former Deputy Chief of Staff, Yair Golan, said the army’s ground forces, who have not seen active combat for almost ten years, have been neglected in favor of the Air Force and “are not ready” for war. Hezbollah leader Hassan Nasrallah recently pointed out that his militia forces have been “engaged in active combat” in Syria for several years, and are therefore “ready to confront” Israel, who he also vowed would be totally decimated in the looming war. . . . . . . JIHADI HEZBOLLAH TERRORISTS are undoubtedly infiltrating into the United States across the porous southern border with Mexico, according to many security sources. Most Americans seem oblivious to this reality, and to the growing likelihood of imminent war in the explosive Middle East. Click the blue tab below to read the Hezbollah report.

Israeli security forces are preparing for stepped up clashes on Friday along the Gaza Strip border fence, where Palestinian Hamas bulldozers were observed earlier this week clearing ground near the border for the anti-Israel “March of Return” riots held there weekly since last March. Rubbish and other obstructions from earlier clashes had been allowed to pile up over the past six weeks, making it more difficult for young Hamas-paid “activists” to attack the border fence, which they’ve breached many times over the past 10 months. .......THIS COMES AS THE USUALLY reliable Debka security news site reports Iranian-backed Palestinian and Lebanese leaders met in Beirut on Wednesday to plot coordinated rocket attacks against Tel Aviv and other Israeli cities and military bases in the coming weeks, designed to disrupt the scheduled April 9 Israeli national election. As I noted earlier this week, both Lebanese Hezbollah leader Hassan Nasrallah and the head of Iran’s National Security Council, Ali Shamkhani, publicly threatened to launch such a coordinated attack against the small Jewish state before the national vote. . . . . .THE SUGGESTION that PM Netanyahu, who is losing some support according to three recent polls, might launch a “wag the dog” assault upon Hezbollah and Hamas in order to prevail at the ballot box--supported by embattled President Trump in order to distract from the Mueller probe--is gaining ground in both the Western and Middle East media, as I expected it would. The contention was broadcast today on the international CNN Amanpour program, made by a retired US military leader who claimed Israel is dragging the US into an unnecessary war. The truth is that Netanyahu is responding to real and ongoing provocative military actions and threats from Iran and its allies. The march to all out war continues apace. . . . . . . I WILL REPORT on these jarring developments during this week’s Prophecy Today Weekend program, broadcast live at 1:15 PM EST Saturday (18:15 GMT) on the PT radio network and website.

As you probably saw in the news, several American intelligence chiefs testified on Tuesday before the Senate Intelligence Committee, looking at recent developments and conflicts around the world and what to expect this year. The most significant and alarming assessment they all shared was that Russia and China are now working more closely together as allies than they’ve done in many decades. All Western countries are now suffering regular cyber attacks and other nefarious acts from the two nuclear powers, they stated. This came hours after Israeli PM Netanyahu said his country is warding off growing cyber attacks from Iran and others on a daily basis. The intelligence chiefs also said it is highly unlikely that Communist North Korea, deeply allied with Iran and Syria, is prepared to actually give up its nuclear weapons program. They also agreed that while ISIS has lost most of its territorial caliphate in Syria and Iraq, it still remains a potent force in the region, reverting to terror attacks as its main arm of attack. ……………….WHILE THOSE ASSESSMENTS are basically shared by Israeli officials, they disagree on the contention--given by CIA chief Gina Haspel--that Iran is still in “basic compliance” with the nuclear accord put together by former President Obama’s Secretary of State, John Kerry. Today, Iran’s state controlled news agency is reporting that 30 tons of “yellowcake” uranium has been shipped to the regime’s main nuclear enrichment facility at Isfahan for further enrichment. Highly enriched uranium is a crucial component of a nuclear bomb. Good job John Kerry! While I agree with the US chief’s joint assessment concerning ISIS, North Korea and the dangerous, mushrooming Russia-China axis of evil, I also agree with President Trump’s tweet today that the intelligence chiefs are “extremely passive and naive” about the threats posed by the rogue Shiite Muslim regime ruling Iran. In reality, the repeated Iranian threats to imminently attack Israel are the greatest danger the region and world are facing at present. Will Donald Trump remain in power through his current term ending in January 2021, or might Nancy Pelosi become Acting President until then? CLICK the blue tab below to read my thoughts on that riveting topic.